The Global Think Tanks Online Forum on International Cooperation to Combat COVID-19 — a videoconference for overseas participants — opens in Beijing on June 9. (FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on June 10 that the COVID-19 pandemic must be a wake-up call for greater multilateral economic cooperation and healthcare solidarity.
“COVID-19 is exposing the fragility of our world. Despite the enormous scientific and technological advances of recent decades, a microscopic virus has brought us to our knees,” Guterres said in his video message to the Forum of Small States.
“COVID-19 must be a wake-up call,” he said. “It is time for an end to this hubris. Our deep feelings of powerlessness must lead to greater humility.”
Speaking of the global response to the pandemic, the secretary-general said that “we have seen such a widespread and damaging spread of the pandemic in large part because our multilateral system is not strong enough”.
Countries have adopted different strategies instead of a coherent international-led response. “There is a real risk of a second wave,” the secretary-general warned. “That is why we must insist that no country is safe and healthy until all countries are safe and healthy.
“And for that we need a strong, coordinated and coherent multilateral response based on solidarity. Unity can ensure that treatment and testing are universally available and that first responders and essential workers have adequate protection,” the UN chief noted.
Global cooperation to stave off the impact of the novel coronavirus on the economy was also highlighted at a Beijing-hosted webinar, which urged joint efforts to develop new technologies and emerging industries that are considered the driving force of an economic recovery.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, executive vice-chairman and CEO of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said deeper cooperation among various countries is needed to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus. Developing new technologies and industries will provide economic development and create more employment opportunities.
The remarks were made during the Parallel Thematic Sub-forum of Global Economic Recovery: New Goals and New Drivers. The sub-forum was held on June 10 by the CCIEE under the Global Think Tanks Online Forum on International Cooperation to Combat COVID-19.
Calling for concerted efforts to reduce the impact of the coronavirus, Hanns Guenther Hilpert, head of Research Division Asia of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said at the sub-forum that the pandemic has had negative impacts on the global value chain and many other areas. Hilpert said countries should step up efforts to strengthen global cooperation to reduce such impacts.
Arkebe Oqubay, senior minister and special adviser to the Ethiopian prime minister, called for more economic stimulus that can benefit the whole world.
Oqubay said he hopes for more supportive measures to help the country develop new industries and create more employment.
Oqubay said China is building an active cooperation framework with African countries and is helping them battle the coronavirus outbreak as well as develop trade, investment and finance. He said he hopes China can play a larger role in creating a more constructive new world order.
Peter Jungen, chairman of investment company Peter Jungen Holding, said more measures are needed to support industrial innovation and startup companies. He called for a more open global market and more cooperation and trade to support innovation and economic recovery.
The two-day Global Think Tanks Online Forum on International Cooperation to Combat COVID-19 (held on June 9-10) brought together influential analysts from 48 countries and nine international organizations. There were 160 analysts or representatives from think tanks and media outlets around the world.
Xinhua contributed to the report.
